This article discusses how governments control prices on foods and the effects that it is having on the economy and politics of certain places where this practice is prevalent, namely Africa. It also goes on to discuss forms of price support and uses the United States Government as an example. [Details...]

This article addresses agricultural land tenures, the arrangements under which farmers occupied farmland, which continues to be the subject of extensive study by agricultural historians and economists. [Details...]

This article examines Europe's Common Agricultural Policy as one of the most controversial farm policies of all time. It discusses the criticism during its period of operation and the radical reform proposals. [Details...]

Defeated in battle and ravaged by bombing in the course of World War II, Germany and Japan nevertheless made postwar recoveries that startled the world. Within ten years these nations were once again considerable economic powers. A decade later, each had not only regained prosperity but had also economically overtaken, in important respects, some of the war's victors. [Details...]

Because a lot has already been written on the opium trade in various parts of the world, this piece will focus on the history of the opium trade through the lens of the economic historian. In other words, it will address the question, "Why is opium of special interest to economic historians?" Following a brief background of the opium trade, a discussion of this question is provided with a focus on Asia and with references to more detailed and case-specific sources. [Details...]

The farm tractor is one of the most important and easily recognizable technological components of modern agriculture in the United States. Its development in the first half of the twentieth century fundamentally changed the nature of farm work, significantly altered the structure of rural America, and freed up millions of workers to be absorbed into the rapidly growing manufacturing and service sectors of the country. The tractor represents an important application of the internal combustion engine, rivaling the automobile and the truck in its economic impact.
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Free-market environmentalism emphasizes markets as a solution to environmental problems. Proponents argue that free markets can be more successful than government-and have been more successful historically-in solving many environmental problems. This article describes this idea.
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This article explains Japan's development through industrialization through four distinctive features: the proto-industrial base, invesment-led growth, total factor productivity growth, and dualism. [Details...]

The historical gas industry includes two chemically distinct flammable gasses. These are natural gas and several variations of manufactured coal gas. Both are explained in more detail throughout the course of the article. [Details...]

The earth's natural resources are finite, which means that if we use them continuously, we will eventually exhaust them. This article displays data of a few natural resources and the reserves for them in 1950 and 1980. [Details...]

This article examines slavery in the United States by discussing the spread of slavery in the U.S., the insitutional framework, the legal status of slaves and blacks, the rights and responsibilities of slave masters, markets and prices, and profitibality, efficiency, and exploitation. [Details...]

The Dust Bowl was a coincidence of drought, severe wind erosion, and economic depression that occurred on the Southern and Central Great Plains during the 1930s. This article discusses rountine dust storms, how the 1930s were different, and the New Deal's response to the dilemma. [Details...]

A commercial fur trade in North America grew out of the early contact between Indians and European fisherman who were netting cod on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland and on the Bay of Gaspe near Quebec. [Details...]

This article describes synergy between agriculture and manufacturing, manufactures which were produced for large market areas, the impact of transportation improvements, manufactures of Eastern and national markets, and the American manufacturing belt. [Details...]

This program sets up an auction in which the bidders are "farmers" with multiple irrigation permits that can either be used (to earn money farming) or sold to the "state" at auction. The state has set aside funds to buy irrigation permits with the goal of reducing irrigation during a designated "draught" year. The state is interested in obtaining the maximum irrigation reduction for a given expenditure, so the lowest bids to sell permits are accepted. There may also be a maximum accepted bid, based on political or strategic considerations. Since permits pertain to various sized plots of land, all bids are submitted on a per-acre basis. As the experimenter, you represent the state. You can specify a target number of acres to be taken out of irrigation, a maximum amount of money to be spent, and a maximum bid. The program determines the permits which will be purchased, subject to the constraints of not acquiring more than the target number of acres, not accepting bids above the maximum, and not spending more than the budget. Bidding takes place in a series of "rounds." In each round, the state announces which permits would have been purchased had that been the final round (given the target acres, maximum bid, and budget constraints). Bidders do not know in advance which will be the final round. As the experimenter, you set the maximum number of rounds, but the auction may stop earlier if the acreage target can be met within budget (to disable this feature, set a high target). [Details...]

Citizens of the countries of the former Soviet Union (FSU) have recognized the potential benefits, observed in many different cultures and societies around the world, of private, market-driven enterprises. For more than half a century enterprises in the FSU have been subject to comprehensive state ownership and central planning. Prices and financing were typically of little concern to enterprise management, while workers did not have to worry about job security and received a wide range of social benefits through enterprises. While moving toward private, market-driven enterprises offers great promise for an improved standard of living for the average person, such a transition represents a fundamental social, psychological, and economic challenge. [Details...]